Here for a moment

A shot from a Sunday mid-day Minecraft play.  His brother was on the desktop and they were doing something together.  Lots of shrieks and laughter.

Did you read the link I posted last week about the hazards of sitting?  I'm going to try leaving my laptop at this "standing desk" to reduce my sitting time.

These piles?  Oh they are just the beginning...  So much to do and catch up on.

Our new slow cooker arrived last week and it remains in its wrapping.  Hoping to get some chicken stock "tea" going this week.

Our friend Anna and rats.  I had a lovely time at Roger's birthday celebration Saturday including having these inquisitive and active rodents crawl on me.

Peace and love.

Latte love

Kissing my latte while I gulp down my Dragon's Way herbs with them.  It's still kind of crazytown here in my head, but I'm plugging along.  Feeling accomplished for getting the week's food shopping done and staying within my mental budget.  Actual budget is not written yet.  Did start HSP book yesterday.  Entertained thoughts of spending one of the weekend days reading, just reading.  Not gonna happen.  After two days of bitter sugar withdrawal, yesterday was smoother.  Practicing Qigong about every other day.

Off to make some lamb stew (meat not Dragon-y but eating down food already bought is good) and some dinner chow for Gem.  We're celebrating my brother's birthday tonight in a sports pub in Queens.

My mind leaps ahead to next week wanting to plan and strategize away the "to do" items that overwhelm my landscape inside and outside of me.

Peace and love.

MCA drum machine

Linkity linkity

I just can't quit her.

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Sad news about MCA.  Onion, I think he would have appreciated this.

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A nice blog about learning/teaching/unschooling.

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Feeling like I need a retreat...to catch up on all the piddly niggly shit stuff that just ain't getting attended to.

Peace and love.

What they're reading

In the thrall of new-to-them book series: How To Train Your Dragon and The Five Ancestors.  Thank you public library!

The art of correspondence

Letters going out to a special someone this morning.  Would really like to make this happen more.

Tripping the web fantastic

Some link love to finish out the day.

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Very simple yet easy-to-forget fact: sitting for long periods of time is killer on the body.  This post was a good reminder for me with tips on how to stay ahead of the sitting game.

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This post is wonderful for everyone, but especially important if autism is of particular interest to you.  I love these two quotes the author/blogger used to illustrate his points of view:

“In many scientific problems, the difficulty is to state the question rightly; once that is done it may almost answer itself.”  (from The Common Sense of Science by Jacob Buronowski)

“I don’t place much faith in my intuitions, except as a starting place for designing experiments.”  (from Elizabeth Spelke)

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TLo have been writing some amazing posts about the costume design on Mad Men this season.  I'm not sure how fun they would be for non-fans of the show, but I find them fascinating and eye-opening.

Kitchen update...with klatch

Creamy dulse dressing from Blissful Bites.  If a recipe has a dozen ingredients, it better make true use of all of them and last awhile.  This dressing fits the bill.  The color is quite drab, but the flavor trips along pretty brilliantly from briny (dulse is seaweed) to citrus (lemon) to savory (Worcestershire and wheat-free tamari and mustard).  The silken tofu gives it a pillowy feel while the pumpkin seeds give it texture.

This is a great recipe.  I could eat it happily by the spoonful.  Wonder what it will pair well with...

I don't know if this is the tastiest slaw, but it sure is the prettiest.  I love the colors.  And the taste bursts with freshness.  It is suggested to add honey if you like things sweet and I will most definitely try that.  This came out tangy.  (My fault, I'm sure, as I didn't measure precisely.)

Gem did not like the marinara.  I almost froze all of it yesterday, in frustration, but then calmed down.  I froze half of it.  

This morning I browned some ground grass-fed turkey from the farmer's market and mixed in just over half of the marinara I had in the fridge.  (I am hoping Cap might make some pizza with what's left of the sauce.)  

He still didn't like it (he is sensitive to texture and change and is not into how chunky this sauce is).  I may blend the next batch to make it smoother, but the truth is that the "chunks" in this sauce are incredibly soft.  The onions cooked for 20 minutes and melt in your mouth.  

He ate more of it at lunch than he did last night.  Baby steps. 

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During Dragon's Way it is encouraged to eat warm foods and drink warm drinks.  Most of the things I made this week are cold, literally not cooked, or meant to be served cold.  Something to keep in mind when meal planning for next week.

I only used half of the red cabbage (slaw), half of the fresh basil (eggplant salad) and half of the Romaine lettuce (eggplant salad).  It's nice to have leftover prepped veg for spontaneous use the rest of the week.

My friend Shannon ended up staying when she dropped her boy off to play.  It was so nice to have someone to share the food with.  And talk and talk and talk.

Peace and love.

I can see the pines are dancing

Sad, romantic, soothing...this is a good one for many moments and I am listening right now.

Recipe roundup

Last week I made a batch of Onion-Apple Pork Chops from Fast Paleo.  The kids gobbled the chops which were moist and flavorful.  I've been eating the onion apple topping.

This morning I made Classic Marinara from 3 Bowls.  I didn't use toasted and crushed fennel seeds, but did add Penzey's Tuscan Sunset seasoning which has fennel and some other stuff in it.  The fennel is lovely.  Give the impression of meatiness because of its association with sausage.  I didn't have plain applesauce (the kids fave is strawberry applesauce) so I did add honey to the sauce.  For me, it was about trying to cut the tartness of the citric acid.  The sauce is nice, not sure how well it's going to go over with the kids.  We will see at lunch.

I also made The Silver Palate's Eggplant Salad this morning.  It is a simple and yummy dish.  And Dragon's Way-friendly.  I had some for breakfast.

Two more dishes coming this week are: Everyday Paleo's Tastiest Slaw and Blissful Bites' Creamy Dulse Dressing.  (The latter link will take you to a review of the cookbook which mentions the dressing "the pumpkin seed dulse condiment".  As of yet no one has posted the recipe online.)

Peace and love (how the day goes when I get out of bed at 5:30).

Early morning

Woke to thunder and lightning...and lightening at 5:15.  From a dreamful sleep.  Gem came into bed.  I tried falling back asleep but couldn't.  I used to be afraid of thunder as a kid and my nervous system still finds it involuntarily rousing. 

When I started having some flashes of things to do which not only haven't been done, but had fallen off the radar somewhat, I thought my vibrations were not good for sleeping child next to me and got out of bed.

Sag got out of bed and moved to the big bed and now the three boys sleep together.

I am moving on to Qigong.  And then to any one of my three lists (two on paper and one in my head).

Peace and love.

Golden

I'm having a hard time being still (at my center) and following through.

Last night at around midnight I was watching tv (Sunday night = Game of Thrones, Mad Men and The Killing) and snarfed a copious amount of Finnish milk chocolate.

And I thought: I can't trust myself to do the right thing (for myself).

This was quickly followed by: how can I trust myself to do the right thing for the kids/Cap/the family?

I'm okay.  Because I am, truly, in a better place than I have been in years.  I kind of can't get knocked down.  I feel I've been weebly since late Winter.  Hence the trouble getting still.  C'est la vie.  And I've got a good one.

This morning I felt a strong impulse to take flight.  So I ditched the top items on my "to do" list and instead went malling with Leo and Danielle.  I returned some items to Land's End.  And sipped a latte from Starbucks and brunched at Qdoba.  Mainstream branded myself up the wazoo.

I arrived home to news that my book was at the bookshop.  So I went back out.  I had myself a pre-No Spend month splurge and picked up this and this for myself, too.  (The Bloggess book I am stoked about.  It hit the NYT bestseller list at freaking #1.  That is some kind of crazy wonderful.  The Jones book has been on my radar for awhile because Alex Chee raved about her work.  I love having a bookshop that inspires warmth and love and joy pretty much every time I step in.  I warned them I'd be sparse next month.)

Tonight I drank in the deeply satisfied utterances of my children as they ate dinner.  (Grass-fed beef sliders, white rice and peas.)  I drank in their words, thoughts, gazes and hugs.  No matter what, it just doesn't get any better than that.  Everything is so worth having this time with them.

So I strive with gratitude.  Wobbling and not falling down.  Leaning into, nudging and pushing through stagnation wherever it is met.

Peace and love.

Creamy quinoa

It was so tasty I was down to my last bites before I could tear myself away to grab my camera.

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time pulling out cookbooks and trying to meal plan.  One of the books, 3 Bowls, had a recipe for Creamy Quinoa.  It was so simple, and quinoa is so nutritious, I made note of it.

This morning, I realized we had quinoa (we usually do because Gem really likes it...but I don't make it often because no one else really does) so I made it creamy style.

Rinse 1 cup quinoa well and drain.  In medium saucepan combine quinoa with 4 cups water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to very low, cover and cook till thickened, about 30 minutes.  Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Serve hot with fave condiments.

When I lifted the lid at 30 minutes, the quinoa was thick, but I could still see liquid.  I turned the heat off and stirred the quinoa for a minute or two and the water absorbed quickly and the quinoa was ready, nice and creamy.

I had soy-free Earth Balance, maple syrup and wheat-free tamari on the table.  

Gem tried it sweet and then savory and could not get past the texture (his brain was not happy... oatmeal = creamy + quinoa = nubby and it's going to take awhile for the 'twain to meet).  

Sag had his sweet (I promised him Kerrygold butter next time) and was surprised that it wasn't totally gross.  He ate about half his bowl.

I loved it!  I wasn't planning on eating any because last I checked I was trying to get back to being fully grain-free and do Dragon's Way without non-veg or fruit carbs.  But, when Gem didn't consume more than a lick, I decided to eat his sweet bowl.

I found it more palatable than quinoa made the regular way, which I prefer mixed with other things, as in a salad.  (Unlike Gem who likes a big bowl of it with Earth Balance and wheat-free tamari.)  As far as creamy hot cereals go, I found the flavor of the quinoa to be more complex than oatmeal.  Good oatmeal has a firm place in the breakfast pantheon...but the creamy quinoa was quite special.

Peace and love.

The "one who cooks"

Something Robb Wolf says in his book has been sinking into me the last 24 hours.

0. "First, I feel like you should know that it’s not your job to please everyone. If you’re cooking for one, congratulations, you are lucky. If you have a spouse, children, or other family members, then you know as the “one who cooks” sometimes it can feel like you’re a line cook in a busy restaurant full of ticked off customers. Well, you are not a short order cook, nor is this Burger King where they get to “have it their way.” If you’re investing the time into meal planning, shopping, and cooking, then you get to make the decisions about what’s in the kitchen cabinets and ultimately what lands on the dinner table. We’ve got some strategies for making sure your family feels involved and heard, but unless they are willing to share the responsibility of cooking, shopping, and planning, you choose the meals."
   

This has given me pause.  Great pause.  The time, energy and money that would be saved if I shifted my attitude about "what lands on the dinner table"?  A lot, I think.  I haven't thought of myself as a line cook, per se, but it is true that these days there are usually two to three (and yes, sometimes four) separate meals being served at any given mealtime.  It is extremely rare for us to be sitting down to the same meal, as a family.

The evolution of our mealtimes has not been inorganic.  Each of us brings unique palates, intolerances/allergies, and dietary modifications of choice, to the table.  Additionally, Cap's schedule, as wonderfully flexible as it is for homeschooling purposes, has historically kept him from eating dinner with us on a regular basis.

But now, as I consider questions like: "should the kids go Paleo?" and "should we all go gluten-free?" and "are the kids old enough to fend for themselves in the kitchen?", that paragraph above felt like a perfect catalyst.

Here is an opportunity to tie some of these strands together.

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My PMS is coming "post" again.  It's funny.  I am reminded of a much younger version of myself when I used to never anticipate PMS and would only realize I was PMSing as my period would arrive.  I appreciate the experience of not knowing even as it involves my body and mind in such an intimate way.  I am presently buzzing uncomfortably an hour after downing handfuls of chocolate chips in a fit of hormonal frenzy.

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Watching the sunlight, wind and leafy leafy trees dance and whip about and settle...over and over.  I am at rest, comparatively, still feeling a bit vulnerable from the itty bitty thing of a virus that passed through here.

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Bulletin

What's going on:

• small virus bouncing around...Cap is fine so far, Sag was exhausted and popped a tiny fever, I felt unwell yesterday afternoon into evening including no appetite at dinner/queasiness, Gem felt crappy Wed afternoon and then had GI issues Wed night and a fever yesterday.

• the kids and I are not going to Plympton...bummer.

• feeling a bit overwhelmed by a slew of ideas and impulses.  parsing for simplicity.

• breaking the quesadilla-from-Whole-Foods-to-end-my-day habit I've somehow formed this week.  Dragon's Way, Manatee, focus!

• putting the pressure cooker on a back burner *smile* for now.  again.

• came across this link to bone broth in Robb Wolf's e-book and found a great deal on what would be for us an updated slow cooker.  I am fascinated by the idea of this soup (Wendy I want your feedback).  I realized that my obsessive pressure cooker attraction could be distilled to (and calmed by) the idea of this soup.  cavewoman want bone broth for family.  with the demise of the hot water pot we have space on the counter for a perpetual soup pot.  (kind of.)

• I haven't ordered from Amazon in a long time.  I no longer buy books from them.  this deal was hard to deny.

• I didn't practice Qigong yesterday and I could really feel it last night.  must clear kids out of my space for 30 minutes to practice today.  can't do it when they are around.

• still overwhelmed.  what to tackle first: declutter a room, finish reading car manual, the lunchbox, write a budget, begin reading Elaine Aron's book for the HSP online program, continue reading Ted Zeff's book, finish reading Robb Wolf's e-book, meal plan, pay bills...in a few minutes the kids will need me for homeschooling attention and then the making of smoothies and lunch.

• I keep hearing this song in my iTunes.  so soothing.  peace and love.

Gulp

In the video, one of the gym members says something about "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable"...and that really sums it up for me.  I have started thinking about taking a free trial class and then singing up for a few months.  CrossFit is the strength building other half of eating Paleo.

Part of me can't even believe I am considering this, but another is quietly, expectantly giddy.  (And there is the part of me that knows that this will be one of the hardest things I ever do.)

Talking myself down

Beginning to read Robb Wolf's e-book got me thinking about pressure cookers.  I've thought on and off for years about purchasing one.  I did some research this afternoon and it boils down to this...

Pro:

• cuts down cooking times significantly, apparently without much loss of flavor or nutrients...I'm thinking of things like bone broth (stock), stews and roasts

Con:

• if I have the option to buy not "made in China", I do...which would mean I'm looking at spending $100-$200

I put it out to my Facebook nation and got some helpful feedback.  Namely, that most professional kitchens don't use them (unless they are at high altitude)...evidence of the prevailing old school notion that "low and slow" is best.

I am talking myself down from a bit of pre-austerity spendy froth.  It was fun while it lasted, shiny non-magic bullet gadget...maybe we'll meet again some day.

Of peonies and such

I am feeling like a conduit in the very best ways.

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For months, when Donna and I would meet for tea or coffee at Terra, she would mention the "secret" garden located behind the building next door.  We would agree she'd show it to me once the flowers were in bloom.

Today turned out to be the day.  I never think of peonies.  Unless they are in bloom in my presence and then they are undeniable.  There were tons of plants and flowers including many varieties of tulips.  Wonderful.

We chatted about getting Gem and Donna together.  He has a passion for flowers and gardening that Cap and I haven't come close to meeting him on.  Donna, she has the passion, too.  Sometimes, education is about bringing people with like passions together, no?

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I bought Robb Wolf's The Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide.  There's a 60 day money back guarantee, which I think is generous.  I've started reading it and think it will give me some oomph in May as I settle into creating meaningful and budget-conscious routines.

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As soon as I click off from here, I am heading over to Ane Axford's site.  I am going to sign up for the Sensitive and Thriving Basics Online Program.  I am excited and a little reticent, truth be told.  I do tend to feel resistance when "signing on" to something.  I don't know why, but there is something about making a commitment which gives me the willies.

It may be vestigial from the days when I was so desperate for a magic bullet that I latched onto gurus, books, courses, impulsively...only to burn out and not only follow through, but realize that I was never game in the first place.

However, I have been thinking about highly sensitive stuff for awhile.  And I have waited to sign up to see if my sense of its value would shift.  It hasn't.

Off I go!

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Peace and love.

Morning read

I read a very interesting article over at Wired this morning.  And now, to mosey along to what's next...it's a cloudy and slow start today.  (Rain expected in a few hours.)

Appliance adieu

A few years ago, we dug this hot water pot from...somewhere I don't remember.  It belonged to my parents.  It was made in Japan in...

(can you see?)  1992.  I knew it was old, and indeed, it is twenty years old.  Or rather...was.

It stopped working a couple of days ago.  It died a silent and sudden death.  Bummer.  We used this electric "pot" (as they are called in Japan) every day, multiple times a day.  We filled it in the morning, plugged it in, and had hot water available by the mug-full (or French press-full) for the rest of the day/night.

Part of me wants to run out to Mitsuwa as soon as possible to buy a new one.  But, the part of me thinking of the No Spend month/austerity budget is holding back.  This morning I boiled water for tea for the kids and me in a small pot on the stove.  And it was fine.  Of course.

R.I.P.  Handy dandy hot water pot.